Justin Hodgman cemented a 2-1 overtime victory for the Komets over Kansas City tonight at the Coliseum by surging his way into the offensive zone and snapping a 15-foot shot past Mavericks goaltender TylerParsons

Cody Sol reintroduced himself to Komets fans in terrific fashion, netting a goal with 32 seconds left in the third period tonight to avoid the first shutout by a visiting goaltender since 2013. Parsons stopped 32 shots.

Fort Wayne’s goalie, Michael Houser, who had a terrific game with 38 saves, was pulled for an extra attacker when Sol snapped a shot from the top of the left circle. Captain Jamie Schaafsma was screening Parsons and the puck ricocheted off Kansas City’s Tyler Elbrecht.

The last opposing goalie with a shutout at the Coliseum was Wheeling’s Peter Delmas, who stopped 44 shots in a 1-0 victory Feb. 24, 2013. The Komets haven’t been shut out since March 19, 2017, when Brampton’s Zachary Fucale stopped 30 shots in a 1-0 victory in Ontario.

It didn’t take long for the Mavericks to get an edge in the game; Alex Brooks netted a shot from just inside the blue line two minutes into the first period as Kansas City had the game’s first four shots.

Houser kept the deficit at one goal, foiling a Jordan Kwas shot from point-blank range at the 8-minute mark, a Mark Cooper attempt at the end of a 3-on-2 rush 1:20 into the second period, and a Kwas shot at the end of a 3-on-1 rush at 8:36, when the Mavericks had a 14-9 advantage in shots.

The Komets began to turn on their offense in the third period and Gabriel Desjardins forced Parsons to come up with a couple of big stops, one on a shot from below the left circle and the other off the rebound at 2:50.

The goaltending battle continued, highlighted by Houser thwarting Kansas City’s Eric Freschi at the end of a breakaway at 10:02, keeping the score at 1-0 when the Mavericks had a 31-25 lead in shots.

Sol, who had been out with an elbow injury, came off injured reserve before the game. To make room, the Komets waived forward Marcus Basara, who had two goals and three points in five games.

The Komets were still without injured players Artur Tyanulin, Ryan Culkin, Justin MacDonald, Cam Lanigan and Taylor Crunk, while Trevor Cheek was in the higher-level American Hockey League with Tucson.

Notes: Though the opponent isn’t yet known, the Komets have announced when their first two playoff games will be – 7:30 p.m. April 14 and 6 p.m. April 15 at the Coliseum – and tickets are on sale for the best-of-7 series. The Komets will either be the first or second seed in the division.